Do you know the difference between faithful people and unfaithful people? Unfaithful people give up at the first sign of difficulty. Faithful people keep on keeping on. Faithful people are determined, diligent, persistent. They don’t know how to quit! You know how a little acorn becomes an oak tree? An oak tree is just an acorn that refused to give up.

I don’t have it all figured out, but I do know one thing: You are never a failure until you quit, and it is always too soon to quit. God uses tough times to test our persistence.

When we started Saddleback, I thought we’d get a building quickly. We went 15 years without a building. In the first 13 years of this church, we used 79 different facilities. You know how many times I felt like giving up? Just every Monday morning! But I don’t know how to quit. And God said, “Rick, if I never give you a building, would you still serve me?” And I said, “Absolutely!”

Saddleback grew to more than 10,000 people before we built our first building. How would you like to set up and take down a church for 10,000 people every week? There’s not a lot of glory in that. It’s just hard work. God used those tough times to test our persistence.

If you’re going through tough times right now, then this verse is for you: “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NLT).

God is more interested in what you’re becoming than what’s happening to you. He often allows trials, troubles, tribulations, and problems in your life to teach you diligence, determination, and character. The problem you’re going through right now is a test of your faithfulness. Will you continue to serve God, even when life stinks?

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 NIV).